Device, System and Method for Synchronizing Multiple Devices

ABSTRACT

An apparatus, method and system for receiving an input indicating a mode into which to set a user equipment (UE) and at least one further UE associated with the UE, determining whether a connection circuit switched (CS) connectivity or packet switched (PS) connectivity and when the connection is the CS connectivity, generating a short messaging service (SMS) message that indicates the mode corresponding to the input. Also, receiving connectivity information for a plurality of UEs from a cloud network component, the UEs being associated with one another, the connectivity being CS connectivity or PS connectivity, receiving a response indication corresponding to a response performed on an incoming call by a first one of the UEs, the first UE having a PS connectivity, matching the response indication to a corresponding cause code and transmitting the corresponding cause code to a second one of the UEs having a CS connectivity.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application62/235,043 entitled “Device, System and Method for SynchronizingMultiple Devices,” filed on Sep. 30, 2015, the entirety of which isincorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

A user may utilize a plurality of different devices (e.g., userequipment (UE)) such as electronic devices that are each capable ofconnecting to one or more networks. Examples of different devices mayinclude a personal mobile phone, a work issued mobile phone, a tabletcomputer, a desktop computer, a VoIP phone, a wearable, etc. Each UE maybe linked to the user in a variety of different manners, for example,using a registration procedure for each of the UEs or a cloudfunctionality, the user may associate each UE to an account of the usersuch as a login or a mobile number of one of the UEs. In this manner,the plurality of UEs of the user may each be linked for variousfunctionalities to be used or performed.

SUMMARY

In one exemplary embodiment, a method is described as being performed bya user equipment (UE) configured to establish a connection using one ofa circuit switched (CS) connectivity or a packet switched (PS)connectivity. The method includes receiving an input indicating a modeinto which to set the UE and at least one further UE associated with theUE, determining whether the connection is one of the CS connectivity orthe PS connectivity and when the connection is the CS connectivity,generating a short messaging service (SMS) message that indicates themode corresponding to the input.

In a further exemplary embodiment, a method is described as beingperformed by a user equipment (UE) configured to establish a connectionusing one of a circuit switched (CS) connectivity or a packet switched(PS) connectivity. The method includes receiving a message from anetwork entity indicating that the UE is to perform a mode changeoperation, the message further including a selected mode for the UE andperforming the mode change operation to change the UE into the selectedmode.

In another exemplary embodiment, a user equipment has a transceiverconfigured to establish a connection using one of a circuit switched(CS) connectivity or a packet switched (PS) connectivity and a processorconfigured to receive an input indicating a mode in which to set theuser equipment and at least one further user equipment associated withthe user equipment, the processor further configured to determinewhether the connection is one of the CS connectivity and the PSconnectivity, the processor, when the connection is the CS connectivity,configured to generate a short messaging service (SMS) message thatindicates the mode corresponding to the input.

In a further exemplary embodiment, a method is described as beingperformed by a telephony application server. The method includesreceiving connectivity information for a plurality of user equipment(UE) from a cloud network component, the UEs being associated with oneanother through a user account, the connectivity being one of a circuitswitched (CS) connectivity or a packet switched (PS) connectivity,receiving a response indication corresponding to a response performed onan incoming call by a first one of the UEs, the first UE having a PSconnectivity, matching the response indication to a corresponding causecode and transmitting the corresponding cause code to a second one ofthe UEs, the second UE having a CS connectivity.

In another exemplary embodiment, a telephony application server has atransceiver configured to establish a connection to a cloud networkcomponent and a processor receiving connectivity information for aplurality of user equipment (UE) from the cloud network component, theUEs being associated with one another through a user account, theconnectivity being one of a circuit switched (CS) connectivity and apacket switched (PS) connectivity, the processor receiving a responseindication corresponding to a response performed on an incoming call bya first one of the UEs, the first UE having a PS connectivity, theprocessor matching the response indication to a corresponding causecode, wherein the corresponding cause code is transmitted to a secondone of the UEs, the second UE having a CS connectivity.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a network arrangement according to various embodimentsdescribed herein.

FIG. 2 shows a user equipment configured to propagate a mode accordingto various embodiments described herein.

FIG. 3 shows a method for propagating a mode according to variousembodiments described herein.

FIG. 4 shows a user equipment configured to propagate a responseaccording to various embodiments described herein.

FIG. 5 shows a network component configured to propagate a responseaccording to various embodiments described herein.

FIG. 6 shows a signaling diagram for propagating a response according tovarious embodiments described herein.

FIG. 7 shows an exemplary method for propagating a response according tovarious embodiments described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The exemplary embodiments may be further understood with reference tothe following description and the related appended drawings, whereinlike elements are provided with the same reference numerals. Theexemplary embodiments are related to a device, system, and method forsynchronizing a plurality of user equipment (UE) that are associatedwith each other. Specifically, the UEs may be related to each other bybeing associated with, for example, a single user or a single account.The UEs may be associated and have a connectivity to various differentaccess networks such that a functionality may be utilized and/or sharedby all of the associated UEs. The exemplary embodiments provide amechanism to synchronize the UEs when at least one of the UEs isincapable of transmitting and/or receiving appropriate signals thattriggers a synchronization feature. That is, the synchronization featuremay utilize a propagation for each of the associated UEs to perform aparticular functionality.

As will be described in further detail below, the UEs associated witheach other via a single user or account may utilize a connectivityfunctionality with an access network to establish a connection tovarious services such as an Internet Protocol (IP) Multimedia Subsystem(IMS). The IMS may provide cloud services for the UEs. The cloudservices may include a variety of different features such assynchronization features through propagation of signals to each of theassociated UEs. The signals utilized in such features may require aspecified type of connectivity such as a packet switched (PS)connectivity to transmit/receive the data packets associated therewith.However, one or more of the associated UEs may not have the PSconnectivity, but may be connected to a different access network such aswith a circuit switched (CS) connectivity. These UEs may be incapable ofproperly synchronizing due to an incapability of transmitting/receivingthe data packets used in the propagation. The exemplary embodiments areconfigured to address when the associated UEs experience this scenario.According to a first feature under this scenario, the exemplaryembodiments provide a mechanism to synchronize an entered mode on one ofthe associated UEs for propagation to the other associated UEs.According to a second feature under this scenario, the exemplaryembodiments provide a mechanism to propagate a response to acommunication on one of the associated UEs to the other associated UEs.

FIG. 1 shows a network arrangement 100 according to various embodimentsdescribed herein. The exemplary network arrangement 100 includes UEs110-114. In this example, it is assumed that the UEs 100-114 areassociated with a single user. For example, the UE 110 may be the user'smobile phone, the UE 112 may be the user's tablet computer, and the UE114 may be the user's desktop computer. Those skilled in the art willunderstand that, in addition to the examples provided above, the UEs maybe any type of electronic component that is configured to communicatevia a network, e.g., mobile phones, tablet computers, desktop computers,smartphones, phablets, embedded devices, wearables, etc. It should alsobe understood that an actual network arrangement may include any numberof UEs being used by any number of users and being associated with anynumber of these users where the user may be associated with one or moreof the UEs. That is, the example of three (3) UEs 110-114 is onlyprovided for illustrative purposes. However, as will be understood fromthe description herein, the exemplary embodiments may relate to when atleast two UEs 110-114 are present in the network arrangement 100.

Each of the UEs 110-114 may be configured to communicate with one ormore networks. In this example, the networks with which the UEs 110-114may communicate are a legacy radio access network (RAN) 120, a LTE RAN(LTE-RAN) 122, and a wireless local area network (WLAN) 124. In thisexample, each of the networks 120-124 is a wireless network with whichthe UEs 110-114 may communicate wirelessly. However, it should beunderstood that the UEs 110-114 may also communicate with other types ofnetworks using a wired connection. With regards to the exemplaryembodiments, the UEs 110-114 may establish a connection with the LTE-RAN122 to perform VoLTE calls with other UEs. For example, the UEs 110-114may have a LTE chipset to communicate with the LTE-RAN 122. Again, theuse of three (3) networks is only exemplary and there may be any othernumber of networks with which the UEs 110-114 may communicate.

The legacy RAN 120 and the LTE-RAN 122 are portions of cellular networksthat may be deployed by cellular providers (e.g., Verizon, AT&T, Sprint,T-Mobile, etc.). These networks 120 and 122 may include, for example,base stations (Node Bs, eNodeBs, HeNBs, etc.) that are configured tosend and receive traffic from UEs that are equipped with the appropriatecellular chip set. Examples of the legacy RAN 120 may include thosenetworks that are generally labeled as 2G and/or 3G networks and mayinclude CS voice calls and PS data operations. For illustrativepurposes, the legacy RAN 120 may represent an access network utilizingCS connectivity with the UEs 110-114 while the LTE-RAN 122 may representan access network utilizing PS connectivity with the UEs 110-114. Thatis, the CS connectivity may be Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA),Wideband CDMA (WCDMA), Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM),etc. Those skilled in the art will understand that the cellularproviders may also deploy other types of networks, including furtherevolutions of the cellular standards, within their cellular networks.The WLAN 124 may include any type of wireless local area network (WiFi,Hot Spot, IEEE 802.11x networks, etc.). Those skilled in the art willunderstand that there may be thousands, hundreds of thousands or more ofdifferent WLANs deployed in the United States alone. For example, theWLAN 124 may be the user's home network, the user's work network, apublic network (e.g., at a city park, coffee shop, etc.). Generally, theWLAN 124 will include one or more access points that allow the UEs110-114 to communicate with the WLAN 124.

In addition to the networks 120-124, the network arrangement 100 alsoincludes a cellular core network 130 and the Internet 140. The cellularcore network 130, the legacy RAN 120, and the LTE-RAN 122 may beconsidered a cellular network that is associated with a particularcellular provider (e.g., Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, etc.). Thecellular core network 130 may be considered to be the interconnected setof components that manages the operation and traffic of the cellularnetwork. The interconnected components of the cellular core network 130may include any number of components such as servers, switches, routers,etc. The cellular core network 130 also manages the traffic that flowsbetween the cellular network and the Internet 140.

The network arrangement 100 also includes an IMS 150. The IMS 150 may begenerally described as an architecture for delivering multimediaservices to the UEs 110-114 using the IP protocol. The IMS 150 mayinclude a variety of components to accomplish this task. For example, atypical IMS 150 includes a Home Subscriber Server (HSS) that storessubscription information for a user of the UEs 110-114. The HSS mayindicate that the UEs 110-114 are associated with one another, inparticular, associated with a single user. Thus, when the UEs of theuser registers with the IMS 150 (e.g., connects thereto), thesubscription information may be utilized to determine various features.For example, this subscription information is used to provide thecorrect multimedia services to the user. In another example, thissubscription information is used to provide synchronization orpropagation services to the user. The IMS 150 may communicate with thecellular core network 130 and the Internet 140 to provide the multimediaservices to the UEs 110-114. The IMS 150 is shown in close proximity tothe cellular core network 130 because the cellular provider typicallyimplements the functionality of the IMS 150. However, it is notnecessary for this to be the case such as when the IMS 150 is providedby another party.

Thus, the network arrangement 100 allows the UEs 110-114 to performfunctionalities generally associated with computers and cellularnetworks. For example, the UEs 110-114 may perform the VoLTE calls toother parties, may browse the Internet 140 for information, may streammultimedia data to the UEs 110-114, etc.

However, as described above, not every one of the UEs 110-114 may havethe same communication capabilities with the networks 120, 122, 124,130, 140. This lack of communication with one or more of the networksmay be due to the capabilities of the UEs 110-114, e.g., the UE does notinclude a cellular chip, may be due to a limitation of the network,e.g., a cellular network does not have a base client station withinrange of the UE, may be due to a limitation created by the environment,e.g., an interference in a frequency of the network, etc. This lack ofcommunication with one or more networks may result in the UE beingunable to avail itself of the functionalities that are available via oneor more of the networks.

The network arrangement 100 may also include a network services backbone160 that is in communication either directly or indirectly with theInternet 140 and the cellular core network 130. The network servicesbackbone 160 may be generally described as a set of components (e.g.,servers, network storage arrangements, etc.) that implement a suite ofservices that may be used to extend the functionalities of the UEs110-114 in communication with the various networks. The network servicesbackbone 160 may interact with the UEs 110-114 and/or the networks 120,122, 124, 130, 140 to provide these extended functionalities.

The network arrangement may further include a telephony applicationserver (TAS) 170 that is in communication either directly or indirectlywith the Internet 140 and the cellular core network 130. The TAS may begenerally described as an entity in a telephone network such as thatutilized by providers of the cellular core network that performsfunctionalities unrelated (or tangential) to the routing of messagesthrough the telephone network. For example, the TAS may performfunctionalities associated with voice mail features, toll-free numbers,call forwarding features, bridges, etc. The TAS 170 may interact withthe UEs 110-114 and/or the networks 120, 122, 124, 130, 140 to providethese functionalities.

The network services backbone 160 and the TAS 170 may be provided by anyentity or a set of entities. In one example, the network servicesbackbone 160 and/or the TAS 170 is provided by the supplier of one ormore of the UEs 110-114. In another example, the network servicesbackbone 160 and/or the TAS 170 is provided by the cellular networkprovider. In still a further example, the network services backbone 160and/or the TAS 170 is provided by a third party unrelated to thecellular network provider or the supplier of the UEs 110-114. Thenetwork services backbone 160 and the TAS 170 as well as the IMS 150 maybe utilized as components collectively used as a cloud networkcomponent.

As discussed above, the exemplary embodiments may relate to when the UEs110-114 that are associated with each other such as through a singleuser are connected to one of the legacy RAN 120, the LTE-RAN 122, and/orthe WLAN 124. The exemplary embodiments further relate to asynchronization or propagation functionality to be performed from theassociation. For example, the UE 110 may be a primary device of the usersuch as a cellular capable smart phone that may utilize the legacy RAN120, the LIE-RAN 122, and/or the WLAN 124 while the UEs 112, 114 mayeach be a secondary device of the user such as a tablet and a wearablethat may utilize the LIE-RAN 122 and/or the WLAN 124. As noted above,the associated UEs 110-114 may be in a scenario where one of theassociated UEs 110-114 may only have a CS connectivity that prevents thesynchronization or propagation functionality from being used properly.For example, the UE 110 may be connected to the legacy RAN 120 onlywhile the UEs 112, 114 may be connected to at least one of the LTE-RAN122 and/or the WLAN 124.

Mode Propagation

Exemplary embodiments described herein provide a propagation of a modethat is extended to the UEs 110-114 that are associated with a singleuser. As discussed above, the association between the UEs 110-114 may bemaintained through functionalities provided by components and servicesincluded in the network services backbone 160. That is, the networkservices backbone 160 may be used to associate the UEs 110-114 with auser account of a user. In one example, the association of the UEs110-114 may link a mobile device number (MDN) of the user to each of theUEs 110-114. The MDN may be assigned to the user when one of the UEs110-114 (e.g., the UE 110) is purchased or obtained and services areprovided thereto by a service provider (e.g., via a SIM card). Forexample, the UE 110 may be purchased and have a service provider providea cellular connectivity in which a call application may be used.Accordingly, the UE 110 may have the MDN assigned thereto for otherdevices to establish a connection.

One of the services provided by the network services backbone 160 may beto store and update associations among the different UEs 110-114. Asdescribed above, each of the UEs 110-114 are associated with the sameuser. Thus, the network services backbone 160 may store information thatindicates this association of the user with each of the UEs 110-114 andmay then also store (or link) the relationship of the UEs 110-114 witheach other based on their association with the user. This associationamong the UEs 110-114 may be used as one of the bases for the networkservices backbone 160 to provide propagation operations to the UEs110-114. Specifically, each of the UEs 110-114 may have the MDN linkedsuch that a communication transmitted to the MDN may reach all the UEs110-114.

The exemplary device, system and method provide a mode propagationmechanism in which a mode set on a first one of the associated UEs110-114 is propagated to the other associated UEs 110-114 such that allof the associated UEs may have a synchronized mode that is set. Withincreased usage of UE association and cloud services, featuresassociated therewith may experience potential issues that create anunpleasant user experience. For example, although the feature provides aconvenience of receiving calls on any of the associated UEs 110-114(since all the UEs 110-114 may provide an alert of the incoming call asthey are linked to the same MDN), a mode change such as to “Do NotDisturb” (DND) on one of the associated UEs 110-114 may not propagateproperly to the other associated UEs 110-114 (e.g., due to aconnectivity issue). Therefore, the other associated UEs 110-114 maystill provide the alert, which may entail playing an audio output thatdisturbs the user. This may lead to a poor user experience as the usermay continue to hear the other associated UEs 110-114 continue to ringdespite putting one of the associated UEs in the DND mode that shouldhave propagated to the other associated UEs. Therefore, the exemplaryembodiments provide the propagation mechanism that may address thispropagation issue, particularly when related to a connectivity issuesuch as when one of the associated UEs only has CS connectivity.

FIG. 2 shows a UE 200 configured to propagate a mode according tovarious embodiments described herein. The UE 200 may represent anyelectronic device that is configured to perform wireless functionalitiesand may be representative of the UEs 110-114. Specifically, the UE 200may have a mode change input entered thereon and perform an operationthat triggers the propagation of the mode to the other associated UEs.Using the above example, the UE 200 may correspond to the UE 110 whilethe other associated UEs may be the UEs 112, 114. However, it is againnoted that the UE 200 may also represent the other UEs 112, 114 that mayperform substantially similar operations. The UE 200 may be a portabledevice such as a personal mobile phone, a work issued mobile phone, atablet computer, a desktop computer, a VoIP phone, a wearable, etc. TheUE 200 may also be a client stationary device such as a desktopterminal. The UE 200 may be configured to perform cellular and/or WiFifunctionalities. The UE 200 may include a processor 205, a memoryarrangement 210, a display device 215, an input/output (I/O) device 220,a transceiver 225, and other components 230. The other components 230may include, for example, an audio input device, an audio output device,a battery, a data acquisition device, ports to electrically connect theUE 200 to other electronic devices, etc.

The processor 205 may be configured to execute a plurality ofapplications of the UE 200. For example, the applications may include aweb browser when connected to a communication network via thetransceiver 225. In another example, the processor 205 may execute acall application that enables the UE 200 to perform a callfunctionality. It should be noted that the call functionality may referto any type of communication session. For example, the communicationsession may be an audio only call functionality (e.g., phone call), anaudio/video communication functionality, etc. Therefore, the callfunctionality may utilize the MDN of the associated UEs 110-114 suchthat when acting as an originating device calling a terminating device,an identification is the MDN and when acting as a terminating devicereceiving a call from an originating device, the originating device usesthe MDN.

The processor 205 may be configured to execute further applications ofthe UE 200. In a further example and according to the exemplaryembodiments, the processor 205 may execute a UE mode application 235.The UE mode application 235 may receive an input from the userindicating a desired mode into which to place the UE 200 (as well as theother associated UEs). In a first example, the mode may be a “Do NotDisturb” mode in which notifications may be deactivated andcommunication applications such as the call application may bedeactivated. In a second example, the mode may be a sleep mode in whichapplications and various processes are deactivated (while backgroundprocesses such as signaling with a base station may remain active). In athird example, the mode may be a wake mode in which all applications andprocesses may resume its operations. In yet another example andaccording to the exemplary embodiments, the processor 205 may execute amode propagation application 240. As will be described in further detailbelow, the mode propagation application 240 may receive a signal fromthe UE mode application 235 indicating the desired mode that is enteredand determine a current connectivity to determine further operations tobe performed in setting the mode and propagating the mode to the otherassociated UEs 112, 114.

It should be noted that the UE mode application 235 and the modepropagation application 240 being separate applications is onlyexemplary. The functionality described herein for these two applicationsmay be implemented in a single application. In addition, thefunctionality described herein for these two applications may also beimplemented into another application. For example, the communicationapplication that implements the VoLTE functionality may also implementthe functionality of the UE mode application 235 and the modepropagation application 240.

It should be noted that the above noted applications each being anapplication (e.g., a program) executed by the processor 205 is onlyexemplary. The functionality associated with the applications may alsobe represented as a separate incorporated component of the UE 200 or maybe a modular component coupled to the UE 200, e.g., an integratedcircuit with or without firmware.

The memory 210 may be a hardware component configured to store datarelated to operations performed by the UE 200. Specifically, the memory210 may store data related to the call application, UE mode application235, and the mode propagation application 240. For example, a currentconnectivity of the UE 200 may be stored for use by the mode propagationapplication 240. The display device 215 may be a hardware componentconfigured to show data to a user while the I/O device 220 may be ahardware component that enables the user to enter inputs. For example,the UE mode application 235 may show a menu of different modes on thedisplay device 215 that allows the user to enter a desired mode usingthe I/O device 220. It should be noted that the display device 215 andthe I/O device 220 may be separate components or integrated togethersuch as a touchscreen. The transceiver 225 may be a hardware componentconfigured to transmit and/or receive data. That is, the transceiver 225may enable communication with other electronic devices directly orindirectly through a network based upon an operating frequency of thenetwork. The transceiver 225 may operate on a variety of differentfrequencies or channels (e.g., set of consecutive frequencies).

According to the various exemplary embodiments, the UEs 110-114 maysynchronize a selected mode entered on one of the UEs 110-114 that ispropagated to the other UEs 110-114 through their association with eachother. Specifically, the mode propagation application 240 may receive anindication of the selected mode and generate a corresponding message tobe propagated to each of the UEs 110-114. The mode propagationapplication 240 may generate the message based upon the connectivity ofthe UEs 110-114. As will be described in further detail below, a firsttype of message may be generated when each of the UEs 110-114 has a PSconnectivity such as with the LTE-RAN 122 or the WLAN 124 and a secondtype of message may be generated when at least one of the UEs 110-114(particularly the UE generating the message) has a CS connectivity suchas with the legacy RAN 120. It is again noted that for illustrativepurposes, the legacy RAN 120 is used to represent a CS connectivityonly. However, those skilled in the art will understand that the legacyRAN 120 may also include PS connectivity functionalities.

According to a first exemplary embodiment, the mode propagationapplication 240 may determine the connectivity of the UE 200. As notedabove, the connectivity may be a PS connectivity or a CS connectivity.In the first exemplary embodiment, the mode propagation application 240may determine that the UE 200 has a PS connectivity such as whenconnected to the LTE-RAN 122 or the WLAN 124. With the PS connectivity,the UE 200 may have access to cloud services such as those provided bythe IMS 150 and/or the network services backbone 160. Therefore,according to the first exemplary embodiment, the mode propagationapplication 240 may generate a PS message that is transmitted to the IMS150 and/or the network services backbone 160. That is, the PS messagemay utilize a cloud framework for the propagation feature to beperformed.

Using the above mechanism, the user may enter a selected mode via the UEmode application 235. The selected mode may be provided to the modepropagation application 240. The mode propagation application 240 mayfirst determine that the UE 200 has PS connectivity and then generatethe PS message including the selected mode. The PS message may betransmitted through the cloud framework such that the PS message ispropagated across the other associated UEs by uploading the desired modeto the cloud via the PS message and pushing the PS message to the otherassociated UEs. Thus, the UE 200 that has the selected mode entered mayupdate its mode directly from the mode input. Whereas, the associatedUEs may receive the PS message to update their mode as the networkservices backbone 160 may determine these associated UEs. It should benoted that the UE 200 may also update its mode by receiving the PSmessage as the network services backbone 160 may transmit the PS messageto all associated UEs, which would also include the UE 200. However, thePS message may also include an identification of the UE 200 such thatthe UE 200 would understand that it was the device that originallygenerated the PS message and the mode was selected via the enteredinput. Thus, there is no need for the UE 200 to update the mode based onthe PS message.

According to a second exemplary embodiment, the mode propagationapplication 240 may again determine the connectivity of the UE 200. Incontrast to the first exemplary embodiment, in the second exemplaryembodiment, the mode propagation application 240 may determine that theUE 200 has a CS connectivity such as when connected to the legacy RAN120. With the CS connectivity, the UE 200 may not have access to thecloud services, meaning that PS messages cannot be transmitted throughthis CS connectivity. Therefore, according to the second exemplaryembodiment, the mode propagation application 240 may utilize a CSmessage that leverages short messaging service (SMS) messages, which arecapable of being transmitted through a CS connectivity.

In the second exemplary embodiment, the mode propagation application 240may generate a CS message that is transmitted as a SMS message to thelegacy RAN 120. The CS message may utilize a unique identifiable stringor format that is recognized by the mode propagation application 240(when received) as a trigger for a mode change. The CS message maytherefore include this trigger such that UEs that receive the CS messagedo not utilize a conventional SMS functionality of displaying anassociated text for viewing. Instead, the trigger may cause the modepropagation application 240 to utilize the received CS message. The modepropagation application 240 may also generate the CS message based uponthe selected mode. For example, a first selected mode may utilize afirst CS message that includes the trigger and a first furtheridentifier of the first selected mode (further portion of the string), asecond selected mode may utilize a second CS message that includes thetrigger and a second further identifier of the second selected mode,etc.

The mode propagation application 240 may also utilize an aspect of theassociation of the UEs as the basis for propagating the CS message.Specifically, the mode propagation application 240 may set thedestination of the CS message as its own MDN. As each of the associatedUEs is linked to the MDN, the CS message that is received by the serviceprovider for the SMS service may transmit the CS message to the MDN. Inthis manner, each of the associated UEs may receive the CS message. Thatis, the underlying network components such as the TAS 170, a SMS center(SMSC), a message service center (MSC), etc. may be responsible forsending the CS message (that is formatted as a SMS) with the trigger andthe selected mode to the UE 200 and the associated UEs. Although theunderlying network components may be responsible for this propagationfeature, it is noted that the underlying network components may notrequire any change to their conventional functionality.

Using the above mechanism, the user may enter a selected mode via the UEmode application 235. The selected mode may be provided to the modepropagation application 240. The mode propagation application 240 mayfirst determine that the UE 200 has CS connectivity and then generatethe CS message including the trigger and the selected mode as well assetting the destination as the MDN linked to the associated UEs. The CSmessage may be transmitted as a SMS message to the legacy RAN 120 andthe underlying network components such that the CS message is propagatedby transmitting the CS message in a conventional manner using the MDN.Thus, the UE 200 that has the selected mode entered may update its modedirectly from the entered input. The associated UEs may receive the CSmessage to update their mode. Specifically, the associated UEs, via themode propagation application 240, may identify the trigger to determinethat the CS message is being received for a mode change and alsodetermine the selected mode identified in the CS message. The modepropagation application 240 may provide a signal to the UE modeapplication 235 of the associated UEs for the selected mode to be set.As noted above, the trigger may prevent the CS message transmitted as aSMS message from being displayed on the display device 215 as anincoming SMS message. Upon receiving the CS message, the UE 200 (thatgenerated the CS message) may also prevent the CS message from beingdisplayed. It should again be noted that the UE 200 may also update itsmode by receiving the CS message as the CS message is transmitted usingthe MDN to which the UE 200 is also linked. However, the UE 200 may havealready updated its mode from the entered selected mode such that thetrigger may be ignored for purposes of updating the mode on the UE 200.

It should be noted that the above exemplary embodiments using theconnectivity of the UE 200 as the basis for generating the message areonly exemplary. According to another exemplary embodiment of modepropagation, the connectivity of the other associated UEs may also beused as a basis for generating the message. For example, through variouscommunication signaling, the associated UEs may receive informationcorresponding to the type of connectivity experienced by the otherassociated UEs. For example, all three associated UEs may have a PSconnectivity. The IMS 150 and/or the network services backbone 160 maygenerate a signal or message that is provided to all the associated UEs.The mode propagation application 240 may accordingly be aware of theconnectivity of the UE 200 and all associated UEs and that theconnectivity is a PS connectivity. The mode propagation application 240may therefore utilize the PS message with confidence that the selectedmode is synchronized using the above mechanism. In another example, afirst associated UE may have a CS connectivity, a second associated UEmay have a PS connectivity, and a third associated UE may also have a PSconnectivity. The mode propagation application 240 that generates themessage may be performed by the second associated UE. The modepropagation application 240 may again receive an indication of theconnectivity types of the associated UEs. However, the indication mayonly indicate that the third associated UE has a PS connectivity. Theindication may not have a corresponding indication for the firstassociated UE or may have an assumed indication based upon an absence ofsignaling used for a PS connectivity. Thus, when attempting to perform amode propagation, the mode propagation application 240 of the secondassociated UE having a PS connectivity may utilize the CS message toensure that all the associated UEs may be synchronized. In a furtherexample, the CS message may always be used to ensure that the modesynchronization may be performed properly regardless of the connectivitytype.

According to a further exemplary embodiment for mode propagation,supplementary services on a Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network(UTRAN) or a GSM Edge RAN (GERAN) may be used. Specifically, uponreceiving a selected mode on the UE mode application 235, the UE 200 maytransmit a supplementary services message with a defined cause code thattriggers the core network to enable the selected mode on the associatedUEs. That is, the SMS messaging format described above may also beperformed using these supplementary services. The MSC may thereaftercommunicate the supplementary services message to the TAS 170 that hasaccess to the information about the association to trigger a SIP Notifymessage. The SIP Notify message may include a reason header such as theselected mode and an application layer on the associated UEs may enablethe selected mode based on a string match in the SIP Notify message.

It is again noted that the selected mode is set using the PS or CSmessage and not manually entered on the propagated UEs. Therefore, theexemplary embodiments may provide a feature that the telephony componentof the propagated UEs may implement a notification (e.g., a pop-up) onthe display device 215 to intimate to the user about the change in modeupon the conclusion of this mode propagation functionality.

FIG. 3 shows an exemplary method 300 for propagating a mode according tovarious embodiments described herein. The method 300 will be describedwith regard to the network arrangement 100 of FIG. 1 and the UE 200 ofFIG. 2. As discussed above, the UE 200 may represent each of the UEs110-114 and the UEs 110-114 may be associated with one another via a MDNof a user. The description of the method 300 will be described withregard to the UE 110 having a CS connectivity (e.g., connected to thelegacy RAN 120) while the UEs 112, 114 have a PS connectivity (e.g.,connected to the LTE-RAN 122 or the WLAN 124).

In 305, the UE receives a mode change input. As discussed above, the UEmay execute the UE mode application 235 that provides a menu on thedisplay device 215 that shows the various different modes that areavailable to set the UE and the I/O device 220 may enable the user toselect one of the modes. The selected mode may be provided to the modepropagation application 240, which initiates further operations.

In 310, the UE determines a connectivity. As discussed above, the UE mayexecute the mode propagation application 240 that may access informationindicating a type of connectivity being used by the UE. For example,according to the example for the method 300, if the UE 110 is performingthese operations, the mode propagation application 240 may determine aCS connectivity. In another example, if one of the UEs 112, 114 isperforming these operations, the mode propagation application 240 maydetermine a PS connectivity. In 315, the UE determines a manner ofperforming further operations based upon the connectivity type.Specifically, if the UE determines a PS connectivity, the UE continuesthe method 300 to 320. However, if the UE determines a CS connectivity,the UE continues the method 300 to 325.

In 320, since the UE has a PS connectivity, the UE generates a PSmessage to propagate the mode change to the associated UEs. As discussedabove, the PS message may be a data packet used in conveying informationto the IMS 150 and/or the network services backbone 160. That is, the PSmessage may be in a format utilized by a cloud network. The PS messagemay include the selected mode such that the PS message may be propagatedto the associated UEs. Once generated, the PS message may be transmittedto the appropriate network components. For example, the UE 112 may havedetermined a PS connectivity and generated the PS message to propagatedto the UE 110 and 114.

Returning to 315, with a CS connectivity, the UE continues the method300 to 325. In 325, since the UE has a CS connectivity, the UE generatesa CS message to propagate the mode change to the associated UEs. Asdiscussed above, the CS message may be in a format corresponding to SMSmessages. The CS message may be generated to include a unique triggerthat indicates to the receiving associated UEs that the CS message isbeing used to update a mode of the associated UEs. The CS message mayalso be generated to include a further indicator of the selected mode.The CS message may further be generated to have a destination of the MDNlinked to the UEs. Thus, by transmitting the CS message, the CS messageis returned to the current UE (330) and also propagated to theassociated UEs that are linked by the MDN (335).

In 340, the mode of each of the associated UEs is updated based upon thereceived CS message. As discussed above, the current UE that performedthe generation and transmission of the CS message may update the modebased upon the entered input on the UE mode application 235. However,the current UE also receives the CS message. Upon receiving the CSmessage, the current UE may perform several operations such aspreventing the CS message from initiating SMS related functionalities.The current UE may also ignore the mode update that is triggered or mayperform the mode update as it is redundant. The associated UEs may alsoperform several operations upon receiving the CS message. Specifically,substantially similar operations may also be performed on the associatedUEs except that the mode update is also performed.

It should be noted that the method 300 may be changed or adapted forvarious features according to the exemplary embodiments. For example, asdiscussed above, the mode propagation application 240 may consider theconnectivity of the current UE and the associated UEs. Thus, the method300 may include an operation that receives information corresponding tothe current UE and the associated UEs. The information may indicate whenthe associated UEs has a PS connectivity (whereas an absence of theindication may imply a CS connectivity). The determination to utilizethe PS message or the CS message may be determined based upon whetherany of the current UE and/or the associated UEs has a CS connectivity.

It should also be noted that the above description relates to aplurality of modes that may be set for the associated UEs. Specifically,there may be three or more modes that may be set for the UEs. However,this is only exemplary. The exemplary embodiments may be adapted for usewhen there are only two modes to set the UEs. Accordingly, there mayonly be one CS message that is generated for use in setting the modes ofthe UEs. Thus, reception of the CS message may prompt the mode to changefrom whatever mode the UE is currently in. A further reception of the CSmessage may prompt the mode to change back.

In another manner of utilizing various exemplary embodiments, there maybe a unique trigger associated with each of the different modes that maybe set for the UEs. For example, a first mode may have a first triggerassociated therewith, a second mode may have a second trigger associatedtherewith, a third mode may have a third trigger associated therewith,etc. The different modes may be turned on/off accordingly and the UEmode application 240 may select an overall mode based upon how thedifferent modes are activated or deactivated. Thus, receiving a CSmessage with the first trigger may update the first mode to turn on oroff based upon whether it already is on or off. A subsequent CS messagewith the second trigger may perform a substantially similar operationfor the second mode. The UE mode application 240 may accordinglydetermine the mode to set the UE, which may also entail a combination ofthe modes. In this manner, the CS messages may be generated with onlythe unique trigger for the corresponding mode without any furtherindication necessary.

Various exemplary embodiments provide a device, system, and method ofpropagating a mode to a plurality of associated UEs. The associated UEsmay be linked to a user and a MDN of the user. When the UE that has amode changed thereon, a message may be generated and transmitted tosynchronize the mode on the other UEs. Specifically, based upon theconnectivity of the UE, a message may be generated. If the connectivityindicates a CS connectivity, the message may be transmitted as a SMSmessage bound for the MDN of the UE. Thus, all of the associated UEswill receive the message as the UEs are linked by the MDN.

Response Propagation

With reference to FIG. 1, various exemplary embodiments relate to one ofthe UEs 110-114 performing a real-time communication. For example, theUE 110 may be the mobile originating (MO) UE that invites a further UE,which may be a mobile terminating (MT) UE. In another example, the UE110 may be the MT UE that responds to an invitation from a further UE,which may be a MO UE. The real-time communication may be a voice onlycommunication, a video communication, etc. The real-time communicationmay be performed in various different ways (e.g., voice only, video andvoice, etc.) using different types of mechanisms (e.g., requiring apacket switched connectivity such as LTE). However, for illustrativepurposes, the real-time communication is hereby referred to as a “call”.

Various exemplary embodiments described herein provide a propagation ofa response to an incoming call (i.e., when the UE is the MT UE) that isextended to the UEs 110-114 that are associated with a single user. Asdiscussed above, the association between the UEs 110-114 may bemaintained through functionalities provided by components and servicesincluded in the network services backbone 160. That is, the networkservices backbone 160 may be used to associate the UEs 110-114 with auser account of a user. Thus, a synchronization feature may be performedacross the UEs 110-114 from their linkage to one another based upon anytype of association criteria such as a user account identification, amobile device number (MDN), etc.

One of the services provided by the network services backbone 160 may beto store and update associations among the different UEs 110-114. Asdescribed above, each of the UEs 110-114 may be associated with the sameuser, the same account, etc. Thus, the network services backbone 160 maystore information that indicates this association of the user with eachof the UEs 110-114 and may then also store (or link) the relationship ofthe UEs 110-114 with each other based on their association with theuser. This association among the UEs 110-114 may be used as one of thebases for the network services backbone 160 to provide propagationoperations to the UEs 110-114. Upon identification of the UEs 110-114that are associated with one another, various network components may beutilized in propagating signals that trigger a synchronizationoperation. For example, the IMS 150 may be used in propagatinginformation. In another example and according to the exemplaryembodiments, the TAS 170 maybe used in propagating information.

The exemplary system and method provide a response propagation mechanismin which a response type performed on a first one of the associated UEs110-114 is propagated to the other associated UEs 110-114, particularlywhen at least one of the other associated UEs is incapable of receivingdata corresponding to the response type over a packet switched (PS)connectivity. Accordingly, all of the associated UEs may besynchronizated with regard to a call that is received. For example, acloud feature may enable calls to be dialed and received from allcellular and non-cellular UEs under a single user account. That is, auser may make and receive calls using the other associated UEs 110-114that were otherwise set up through a MDN registered over a first one ofthe associated UEs 110-114. Using this association feature, when the UEs110-114 are acting as the MT UE, a simultaneous alert (e.g., ringing) onall the associated UEs 110-114 may be activated with a concept ofcall-forking since all the associated UEs 110-114 are registered with anoperator network through a SIP signaling protocol. Therefore, a singlecall may be alerted at a plurality of UEs through forking.

However, with increased usage of UE association and cloud services,features associated therewith may experience potential issues thatcreate an unpleasant user experience. The call forking operation mayrely upon each of the associated UEs 110-114 having a PS connectivity.That is, the signals exchanged to synchronize the response to anincoming call utilize a PS connectivity. Thus, when a first one of theassociated UEs 110-114 has a PS connectivity, a second one of theassociated UEs having a PS connectivity may receive the proper SIPsignaling response as either a SIP Cancel (i.e., call completedelsewhere) if the call is answered or as a SIP 486 (i.e., user busy) ifthe call is rejected. This feature for the other associated UEs may beof significant importance since the other associated UEs will ceaseperforming the alert (e.g., ringing) upon the call being received orrejected on the associated UE. This leads to a potential issue since theSIP signaling may be incapable of being transmitted over a circuitswitched (CS) connectivity. For example, when a first one of theassociated UEs that has a PS connectivity is used to respond to anincoming call, a second one of the associated UEs that has a CSconnectivity may not properly receive the SIP signaling to terminate thealert. Furthermore, a result of the associated UE having the CSconnectivity may be an error in a call history as a call may have beenresponded to on another one of the associated UEs, but the call on theCS connected UE tracks the call as missed. Therefore, the exemplaryembodiments provide a call response propagation mechanism that mayaddress this propagation issue, particularly when related to aconnectivity issue such as when one of the associated UEs only has CSconnectivity.

FIG. 4 shows a UE 400 configured to propagate a mode according tovarious embodiments described herein. The UE 400 may represent anyelectronic device that is configured to perform wireless functionalitiesand may be representative of the UEs 110-114. Specifically, the UE 400may perform a response to an incoming call that triggers a propagationof that response to the other associated UEs. Using the above example,the UE 400 may correspond to the UE 110 while the other associated UEsmay be the UEs 112, 114. However, it is again noted that the UE 400 mayalso represent the other UEs 112, 114 that may perform substantiallysimilar operations. The UE 400 may be a portable device such as apersonal mobile phone, a work issued mobile phone, a tablet computer, adesktop computer, a VoIP phone, a wearable, etc. The UE 400 may also bea client stationary device such as a desktop terminal. The UE 400 may beconfigured to perform cellular and/or WiFi functionalities. The UE 400may include a processor 405, a memory arrangement 410, a display device415, an input/output (I/O) device 420, a transceiver 425, and othercomponents 430. The other components 430 may include, for example, anaudio input device, an audio output device, a battery, a dataacquisition device, ports to electrically connect the UE 400 to otherelectronic devices, etc.

The processor 405 may be configured to execute a plurality ofapplications of the UE 400. For example, the applications may include aweb browser when connected to a communication network via thetransceiver 425. In another example, the processor 405 may execute acall application 435 that enables the UE 400 to perform a callfunctionality. It should again be noted that the call functionality mayrefer to any type of communication session. For example, thecommunication session may be an audio only call functionality (e.g.,phone call), an audio/video communication functionality, etc. Therefore,the call functionality may utilize the MDN of the associated UEs 110-114such that when acting as a MT UE, an identification used to reach theUEs 110-114.

In a further example and according to the exemplary embodiments, theprocessor 405 may execute an associated UE response application 440. Theresponse application 440 may receive an input indicating a response toan incoming call. In a first example, the user may not provide anymanual input to the incoming call for a variety of reasons such aspurposely not answering or inadvertently missing the call (e.g., noresponse after a minimum number of rings). Accordingly, a first responsemay be that the call is missed. In a second example, the user mayprovide a manual input to reject the call. When the call is rejected,the alert may be terminated and the call may be terminated or the callmay be redirected to a voicemail functionality. Accordingly, a secondresponse may be that the call is rejected. In a third example, the usermay provide a manual input to answer the call. When the call isanswered, the alert may be terminated and the user may be connected toperform the real-time communication with another user. Accordingly, athird response may be that the call is answered. The responseapplication 440 may also be configured to generate an appropriatemessage of the response to the network such as to the IMS 150, thenetwork services backbone 160, and/or the TAS 170. The responseapplication 440 may further be configured to receive a messagecorresponding to the response to perform subsequent operations such asterminating the alert and updating a call history accordingly.

It should be noted that the call application 435 and the responseapplication 440 being separate applications is only exemplary. Thefunctionality described herein for these two applications 435 and 440may be implemented in a single application. In addition, thefunctionality described herein for these two applications 435 and 440may also be implemented into another application.

It should also be noted that the above noted applications each being anapplication (e.g., a program) executed by the processor 405 is onlyexemplary. The functionality associated with the applications may alsobe represented as a separate incorporated component of the UE 400 or maybe a modular component coupled to the UE 400, e.g., an integratedcircuit with or without firmware.

The memory 410 may be a hardware component configured to store datarelated to operations performed by the UE 400. Specifically, the memory410 may store data related to the call application 435 and the responseapplication 440. For example, a current connectivity of the UE 400 maybe stored for transmission to the network components such as the IMS 150for subsequent use by the exemplary response propagation mechanism. Thedisplay device 415 may be a hardware component configured to show datato a user while the I/O device 420 may be a hardware component thatenables the user to enter inputs. For example, the call application 435may enable the user to provide a manual input such as a reject or ananswer using the I/O device 420. It should be noted that the displaydevice 415 and the I/O device 420 may be separate components orintegrated together such as a touchscreen. The transceiver 425 may be ahardware component configured to transmit and/or receive data. That is,the transceiver 425 may enable communication with other electronicdevices directly or indirectly through a network based upon an operatingfrequency of the network. The transceiver 425 may operate on a varietyof different frequencies or channels (e.g., set of consecutivefrequencies).

According to various exemplary embodiments, the UEs 110-114 maysynchronize a selected response to an incoming call performed on a firstone of the associated UEs 110-114 to the other associated UEs 110-114.As discussed above, the UEs 110-114 may be associated with one anotherand a call forking feature may be utilized such that an incoming callmay trigger an alert to be performed on each of the UEs 110-114. It isnoted that the call forking feature may be performed for the UEs 110-114independent of the connectivity type. That is, if the associated UE 110has a CS connectivity, the associated UE 112 has a PS connectivity, andthe associated UE 114 has a PS connectivity, all the UEs 110-114 maystill receive an incoming call and initiate the alert. As thetransmission of the incoming call to the UEs 110-114 is performed on anetwork-side operation (e.g., the IMS 150, the network services backbone160, the TAS 170, and the corresponding access network), properformatting and routing of the incoming call may be performed on thenetwork-side operation such that all the associated UEs 110-114 receivethe incoming call.

When a passive response type (e.g., missed) is determined by theresponse application 440, the response may be updated on each of the UEs110-114. For example, a graphic indication may be shown on the displaydevice 415 on each of the UEs 110-114 corresponding to the call that ismissed (e.g., an identification of the user performing the incomingcall, a time of the call, etc.). In another example, a call history maybe updated to reflect the call that is missed (e.g., a graphicindication such as a font color indicating that the call is missed).

When a manual response type (e.g., answered or rejected) is determinedby the response application 440 for the incoming call, the manualresponse may be transmitted to the network components. For example, ifthe associated UE that responds to the incoming call is utilizing a PSconnectivity, a corresponding SIP message may be transmittedcorresponding to the manual response. Those skilled in the art willunderstand that the SIP message may be the SIP Cancel when the call isanswered or the SIP 486 when the call is rejected. While the otherassociated UEs also have a PS connectivity, the SIP message may beproperly transmitted and the call forking feature may be addressed. Thatis, the alert may be canceled and the call history on the associated UEhaving the PS connectivity, but not used in responding to the incomingcall. For example, a graphic indication may be prevented from beingshown on the display device 415 as the call is not missed and treated asif the call is answered on the non-responding UE despite not being used.In another example, a call history may be updated to reflect the callbeing manually responded (e.g., a graphic indication such as a fontcolor indicating the call is answered or rejected).

It is again noted that the above SIP signaling mechanism requires thatthe associated UEs 110-114 have a PS connectivity. However, if one ofthe associated UEs 110-114 that is not being used to respond has a CSconnectivity, the SIP signaling may not be received and the abovedescribed issue may result. Accordingly, the exemplary embodimentsprovide a mechanism for the CS connected UE to receive the propermessage indicating the manual response type performed on anotherassociated one of the UEs 110-114. Specifically, the TAS 170 may receivethe manual response type from the associated UE having a PS connectivityand performing the manual response to generate a corresponding messagefor the associated UE having a CS connectivity. The TAS 170 may alsoreceive information from the other network components such as the IMS150 and/or the network services backbone 160 that provides an indicationof the types of connectivity being used by the associated UEs 110-114.That is, the TAS 170 may be aware of whether each of the associated UEs110-114 is using the PS connectivity or the CS connectivity.

FIG. 5 shows the TAS 170 of the system 100 of FIG. 1 configured topropagate a response according to various embodiments described herein.As discussed above, the TAS 170 may perform functionalities unrelated tothe routing of messages. The TAS 170 may further perform the responsepropagation mechanism of the exemplary embodiments. As noted above, theoperations described herein for the TAS 170 may relate to when at leastone of the associated UEs that is not used in responding to an incomingcall has a CS connectivity. The TAS 170 may be preconfigured with avariety of parameters to perform its functionalities. For example, anadministrator may enter a table of corresponding SIP signals to causecodes such that an operation involving a matching of a SIP signal to thecause code may be performed. The TAS 170 may represent any electronicdevice that is configured to perform the functionalities describedherein. The TAS 170 may include a processor 505, a memory arrangement510, and a transceiver 515 that provide functionalities substantiallysimilar to those corresponding to the UE 200. It should be noted thatthe TAS 170 may also include further components such as a display deviceand an I/O device that enable the administrator to configure the TAS 170to perform its intended functionalities. However, it should also benoted that the TAS 170 may be configured to receive these instructionsvia the transceiver 515 to automatically implement the policies uponreception.

The processor 505 may be configured to execute a matching application520. The matching application 520 may determine a correspondence betweena received SIP signal and a cause code. As discussed above, the SIPsignal may be a SIP Cancel or a SIP 486 based upon the type of manualresponse. The cause code may be used in a signaling operation toidentify and debug events occurring therein. For example, a first causecode may be cause code 26 (CC26). Those skilled in the art willunderstand that the CC26 may correspond to a “non-selected userclearing”. A second cause code may be cause code 24 (CC24). Thoseskilled in the art will understand that the CC24 may correspond to a“call rejected due to feature at destination.” Accordingly, the matchingapplication 520 may perform a matching correspondence between thereceived SIP signals and the cause codes. Specifically, when the useranswers the incoming call on one of the associated UEs 110-114 having aPS connectivity (i.e., call answered), the TAS 170 may receive theanswer response type of a SIP Cancel and match to the CC26. When theuser rejects the incoming call on one of the associated UEs 110-114having a PS connectivity (i.e., call rejected), the TAS 170 may receivethe response type of a SIP 486 and match to the CC24. The processor 505may be configured to execute a propagation application 525. Thepropagation application 525 may transmit the SIP signal to thenon-responding associated UEs having a PS connectivity and transmit thematched cause code to the non-responding associated UEs having a CSconnectivity.

FIG. 6 shows a signaling diagram 600 for propagating a responseaccording to various embodiments described herein. The signaling diagram600 may relate to an overall process relating to responding to anincoming call using one of the associated UEs 110-114 and propagatingthe response type to the other associated UEs 110-114. Specifically, thesignaling diagram 600 may relate to when at least one of the associatedUEs has a CS connectivity. The signaling diagram 600 is illustrated withthe UEs 110-114 and the TAS 170. However, as will be described below,there may be further components utilized in performing the process suchas the IMS 150, the network services backbone 160, and other networkcomponents such as a mobile switching center (MSC).

Initially, the association of the UEs 110-114 may be determined such asusing functionalities of the IMS 150 and the network services backbone160. The connectivity of the UEs 110-114 may also be determined usingthe functionalities of the IMS 150 and the network services backbone160. For example, base station(s) with which each of the UEs 110-114 isassociated may provide information to the IMS 150 and/or the networkservices backbone 160 that tracks the connectivity. In this manner, theTAS 170 may be provided an indication to perform the operationsdescribed herein with the signaling diagram 600.

As noted above, the UE 112 that is used to respond to an incoming callmay have a PS connectivity. The UE 114 that receives the indication ofthe response type may also use a PS connectivity, while the UE 110 thatreceives the indication of the response type may be using a CSconnectivity. Thus, in this example, UE 112 has PS connectivity, UE 114has PS connectivity and UE 110 has CS connectivity.

In the signaling diagram 600, the UE 112 may respond to the incomingcall. It may be assumed that the user of the UE 112 performs a manualresponse and the call is not missed. Accordingly, a call response 605 istransmitted to the TAS 170. For example, the UE 112 may be connected tothe LTE-RAN 122 and transmits the corresponding SIP signal to the basestation of the LTE-RAN 122. The LTE-RAN 122 may forward the SIP signalto the IMS 150 and other network components. The call response 605 maybe the SIP Cancel (when the call is answered) or the SIP 486 (when thecall is rejected).

When the TAS 170 receives the call response 605, the TAS 170 may utilizethe information related to the connectivity of the UEs 110-114. Sincethe information indicates that the UE 110 has a CS connectivity, the TAS170 may perform a matching 610. The matching 610 may correspond the SIPsignal to the appropriate cause code, for example, as indicated in thetable with the predetermined correspondences.

The TAS 170 may propagate the response type to the UE 114 and the UE110. Since the UE 114 has a PS connectivity, the TAS 170 may transmitthe response type via the SIP signal 615. Specifically, when the callresponse 605 is the SIP Cancel, a corresponding SIP signal may beforwarded to the UE 114 to perform operations based upon the receivedcorresponding SIP Cancel signal. Specifically, the UE 114 may perform analert termination 620 (e.g., cease a ringing functionality) and performa call history update 625 (e.g., marking the call on the UE 114 asanswered). When the call response 605 is a SIP 486, a corresponding SIPsignal may be forwarded to the UE 114 to perform operations based uponthe received corresponding SIP 486 signal. Specifically, the UE 114 mayperform an alert termination 620 (e.g., cease a ringing functionality)and perform a call history update 625 (e.g., marking the call on the UE114 as rejected). The corresponding SIP signal may be forwarded to theUE 114 using various network components such as through the IMS 150 andthe base station to which the UE 114 is connected.

Since the UE 110 has a CS connectivity, the TAS 170 may transmit thematched cause code 630 to the UE 110. When the call response 605 is theSIP Cancel, a corresponding cause code 630 of a CC26 may be forwarded tothe UE 110 to perform operations based upon the received correspondingCC26. Specifically, the UE 110 may perform an alert termination 635(e.g., cease a ringing functionality) and perform a call history update640 (e.g., marking the call on the UE 110 as answered). When the callresponse 605 is a SIP 486, a corresponding cause code 630 of a CC24 maybe forwarded to the UE 110 to perform operations based upon the receivedcorresponding CC24. Specifically, the UE 110 may perform an alerttermination 635 (e.g., cease a ringing functionality) and perform a callhistory update 640 (e.g., marking the call on the UE 114 as rejected).The CC26 and the CC24 may be forwarded to the UE 110 using variousnetwork components such as through a MSC and a base station to which theUE 110 is connected.

FIG. 7 shows an exemplary method 700 for propagating a responseaccording to various embodiments described herein. The method 700 willbe described with regard to the network arrangement 100 of FIG. 1, theUE 400 of FIG. 4, and the TAS 170 of FIG. 5. As discussed above, the UE400 may represent each of the UEs 110-114 and the UEs 110-114 may beassociated with one another. The description of the method 700 will bedescribed with regard to the UE 110 having a CS connectivity (e.g.,connected to the legacy RAN 120) while the UEs 112, 114 have a PSconnectivity (e.g., connected to the LTE-RAN 122). The description ofthe method 700 will also be described with regard to the UE 112 beingused to respond to the incoming call.

In 705, the UE 112 receives the incoming call. As described above, theincoming call may also be received by the UE 110 and 114 using the callforking functionality due to the association of the UEs 110-114. In 710,the UE 112 determines whether the incoming call is missed. For example,the incoming call may be determined to be missed after a predeterminedtime limit of no response being received or after a preset number ofrings being played out. If the incoming call is missed (i.e., a passiveresponse type), the UE 112 continues the method 700 to 715. In 715, theUE 112 allows the UE 112 to perform a miss functionality. Specifically,the UE 112 may generate an indication on the display device 415 that theincoming call is missed and any associated information. It is noted thatthe UEs 110 and 114 may also have had the incoming call missed toperform a substantially similar miss functionality.

Returning to 710, if the call is not missed, the UE 112 continues themethod 700 to 720. Since the call is not missed, the user has manuallyresponded to the incoming call. In 720, the UE 112 responds to the call.Specifically, the incoming call may be answered or rejected. In 725, theUE 112 transmits the response type to the network. For example, sincethe UE 112 has a PS connectivity, the UE 112 transmits a SIP Cancel whenthe incoming call is answered or a SIP 486 when the incoming call isrejected.

In 730, the TAS 170 determines the UEs that are associated with the UE112. As described above, the TAS 170 may receive information about whichUEs are associated or linked to the UE 112 such as from the IMS 150and/or the network services backbone 160. In this manner, the TAS 170may determine that the UEs 110, 114 are associated with the UE 112. In735, the TAS 170 determines a connectivity of the associated UEs 110,114. As described above, the TAS 170 may also receive information aboutthe connectivity of the associated UEs such as from the base stations towhich the UEs 110, 114 are connected.

If the TAS 170 determines that at least one of the UEs 110, 114 has a CSconnectivity, the TAS 170 continues the method 700 to 740. Specifically,the TAS 170 may determine that the UE 110 has a CS connectivity whilethe UE 114 has a PS connectivity. In 740, the TAS 170 determines amatching operation to match the SIP signal of the response type to thecause code (e.g., SIP Cancel to CC26 and SIP 486 to CC24).

In 745, the TAS 170 determines whether the response type is indicativethat the incoming call was rejected on the UE 112. That is, the TAS 170determines whether the SIP 486 is received. If the incoming call isrejected, the method 700 continues to 750. In 750, the TAS 170 transmitsthe SIP 486 or a corresponding SIP signal to the UE 114 as the UE 114has a PS connectivity. The TAS 170 also transmits the CC24 to the UE 110as the UE 110 has a CS connectivity. If the incoming call is answered,the method 700 continues to 755. In 755, the TAS 170 transmits the SIPCancel or a corresponding SIP signal to the UE 114 as the UE 114 has aPS connectivity. The TAS 170 also transmits the CC26 to the UE 110 asthe UE 110 has a CS connectivity. Through receiving the correspondingSIP signal or the cause code, the UEs 110, 114 are capable of performingthe appropriate operations based upon the received signal such asterminating an alert and updating a call history accordingly.

The exemplary embodiments provide a device, system, and method ofpropagating a response performed on one of a plurality of associated UEsto the other associated UEs. The exemplary embodiments address when atleast one of the other associated UEs has a CS connectivity that isincapable of receiving a SIP signal otherwise used to propagate theresponse over a PS connectivity. Specifically, the response type may bematched to a cause code that is transmitted to the UE using the CSconnectivity that triggers the appropriate operations as if thecorresponding SIP signal had been received.

Those skilled in the art will understand that the above-describedexemplary embodiments may be implemented in any suitable software orhardware configuration or combination thereof. An exemplary hardwareplatform for implementing the exemplary embodiments may include, forexample, an Intel x86 based platform with compatible operating system, aWindows OS, a Mac platform and MAC OS, a mobile device having anoperating system such as iOS, Android, etc. In a further example, theexemplary embodiments of the above described method may be embodied as aprogram containing lines of code stored on a non-transitory computerreadable storage medium that, when compiled, may be executed on aprocessor or microprocessor.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that variousmodifications may be made in the present invention, without departingfrom the spirit or the scope of the invention. Thus, it is intended thatthe present invention cover modifications and variations of thisinvention provided they come within the scope of the appended claims andtheir equivalent.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method, comprising: at a user equipment (UE)configured to establish a connection using one of a circuit switched(CS) connectivity or a packet switched (PS) connectivity: receiving aninput indicating a mode into which to set the UE and at least onefurther UE associated with the UE; determining whether the connection isone of the CS connectivity or the PS connectivity; and when theconnection is the CS connectivity, generating a short messaging service(SMS) message that indicates the mode corresponding to the input.
 2. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising: transmitting the SMS message witha destination corresponding to a mobile device number, wherein themobile device number is associated with the UE and the at least onefurther UE.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the SMS message comprisesa trigger that initiates a mode change operation to the mode in the atleast one further UE when the SMS message is received.
 4. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising: when the connection is the PS connectivity,generating a PS message including one or more data packets indicatingthe mode; and transmitting the PS message to a PS network.
 5. The methodof claim 1, wherein the mode is one of a Do Not Disturb mode, a sleepmode or a wake mode.
 6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:receiving a connectivity indication for each of the at least one furtherUEs, wherein the connectivity indication indicates if the at least onefurther UE has CS connectivity or PS connectivity; when at least one ofthe at least one further UE has CS connectivity, generating the SMSmessage that indicates the mode corresponding to the input; andtransmitting the SMS message with a destination corresponding to amobile device number, wherein the mobile device number is associatedwith the UE and the at least one further UE.
 7. A method, comprising: ata user equipment (UE) configured to establish a connection using one ofa circuit switched (CS) connectivity or a packet switched (PS)connectivity: receiving a message from a network entity indicating thatthe UE is to perform a mode change operation, the message furtherincluding a selected mode for the UE; and performing the mode changeoperation to change the UE into the selected mode.
 8. The method ofclaim 7, wherein the message is a PS message including one or more datapackets received from a PS network via the PS connectivity.
 9. Themethod of claim 7, wherein the message is a SMS message received from aCS network via the CS connectivity, wherein the SMS message includes atrigger indicating to the UE that the SMS message is not to be displayedon the UE.
 10. The method of claim 7, wherein, when the UE determinesthat the UE generated the message, the UE does not perform the modechange operation.
 11. The method of claim 7, further comprising:displaying, on a display of the UE, a notification that the UE haschanged into the selected mode.
 12. A user equipment, comprising: atransceiver configured to establish a connection using one of a circuitswitched (CS) connectivity or a packet switched (PS) connectivity; and aprocessor configured to receive an input indicating a mode in which toset the user equipment and at least one further user equipmentassociated with the user equipment, the processor further configured todetermine whether the connection is one of the CS connectivity and thePS connectivity, the processor, when the connection is the CSconnectivity, configured to generate a short messaging service (SMS)message that indicates the mode corresponding to the input.
 13. The userequipment of claim 12, wherein the transceiver is further configured totransmit the SMS message with a destination corresponding to a mobiledevice number, wherein the mobile device number is associated with theuser equipment and the at least one further user equipment, wherein theSMS message comprises a trigger that initiates a mode change operationto the mode in the at least one further user equipment when the SMSmessage is received.
 14. The user equipment of claim 12, wherein theprocessor is further configured to, when the connection is the PSconnectivity, generate a PS message including one or more data packetsindicating the mode and the transceiver is further configured totransmit the PS message to a PS network.
 15. A method comprising: at atelephony application server: receiving connectivity information for aplurality of user equipment (UE) from a cloud network component, the UEsbeing associated with one another through a user account, theconnectivity being one of a circuit switched (CS) connectivity or apacket switched (PS) connectivity; receiving a response indicationcorresponding to a response performed on an incoming call by a first oneof the UEs, the first UE having a PS connectivity; matching the responseindication to a corresponding cause code; and transmitting thecorresponding cause code to a second one of the UEs, the second UEhaving a CS connectivity.
 16. The method of claim 15, wherein theresponse indication is a SIP response.
 17. The method of claim 16,wherein the SIP response is one of a SIP Cancel that indicates the callwas accepted by the first UE and corresponds to a cause code 26 or a SIP486 that indicates the call was rejected by the first UE and correspondsto a cause code
 24. 18. The method of claim 15, wherein the telephonyapplication server includes a table that indicates a correspondencebetween the response indication and the cause code, wherein the table isused for the matching.
 19. The method of claim 15, further comprising:transmitting the response indication to a third one of the UEs, thethird UE having a PS connectivity.
 20. A telephony application server,comprising: a transceiver configured to establish a connection to acloud network component; and a processor receiving connectivityinformation for a plurality of user equipment (UE) from the cloudnetwork component, the UEs being associated with one another through auser account, the connectivity being one of a circuit switched (CS)connectivity and a packet switched (PS) connectivity, the processorreceiving a response indication corresponding to a response performed onan incoming call by a first one of the UEs, the first UE having a PSconnectivity, the processor matching the response indication to acorresponding cause code wherein the corresponding cause code istransmitted to a second one of the UEs, the second UE having a CSconnectivity.